If I had to describe myself, it would be in a word that has many meanings with a complexity which falls off the tongue.A word made up of many elements, is deceptive in appearance, and creates an illusion from the imagination. My word would be Phantasmagoric. ~Summer Ross

writing stuff

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Writing Nightmare

You would think after writing the first draft, the rest would come naturally. All the material is there. But no, my writing nightmare came to life last week...**if you are looking for the Lightning flashed blogfest entry click HEREI stared at a screen that had a story written!

The problem was I needed to revise. My mind blanked, I saw myself doing laundry instead, playing on Facebook, and -shudder- doing dishes. Creativity had left the fairy dwelling.

Then came realization. I spent far too much time at the computer doing homework over the course of the semester- Zap goes creativity. I had more time and what was I doing? Still sitting at my computer. Zap, no creativity.

I needed to get out of the house.I spent the weekend getting to know my family again, having lunch with friends, and meeting with my writers group.

I put my butt back in my chair, opened my novel, and poof- I revised Chapter 1 twice and did edits to Chapter 2.Jumping fairy dust! I managed to add almost 1000 new words and cut out unneeded sentences.

13 comments:

First draft revisions are the most nightmarish for me! Getting out of the house for awhile does wonders for my creativity, too. I'm glad you're out of your writing nightmare! Happy dreaming and writing. :)

A part of me always worries that I will somehow make the manuscript worse with revisions than better. I know it should be better--and it is--but I worry I'll take something away that should've been left alone.

I always find revising quite daunting when I first start. I always thought it was going to be easy, because as you say all the material is there. But then you realise how much of that material needs to be changed! Sometimes I just wanna cry when I stare at my computer screen. Glad you were able to get back to writing after a much needed break!Good luck with the revisions!

I did the same thing! While I love writing, I do feel like sometimes I'm wasting too much of my life sitting and staring at a computer screen... it's amazing how much getting up and taking some time away can actually help.